Pacific Northwest

We just got home from a wonderful vacation to visit Todd's extended family in the Pacific Northwest. We visited southern Oregon to meet his dad's family, and then up to Seattle to meet his mom's family. As a native Texas girl, let me just tell you... it is BEAUTIFUL up there! The weather was nice (70's-80's, though many people said it was hot), we had almost no rain, and it was amazing to me to see so many mountains. Here's a quick re-cap of our trip:


1. Mt. Saint Helens - Whoa. I had seen pictures and TV clips, but those are nothing compared to actually seeing it up close!


2. Space Needle in Seattle - OK, I have to admit I was a little nervous riding an elevator 500 feet into the air, but it was an incredible view of a beautiful city. And it reminds me a little of something out of The Jetsons, so that was pretty cool too! :)


3. Pike Place Market - Honestly, I think I could spend hours upon hours here watching the guys throw fish around. They are the same people we studied in one of our marketing classes as the epitome of customer service, so I was thrilled to see these guys in action. Not to mention that this market is the place to get cheap fresh flowers, fresh produce, and just about any souvenir you could imagine. I had my first crumpet from a bakery, as well as a latte from the first-ever Starbucks. The Pike Place Market was easily my favorite place in all of Seattle.


4. Dutch Brothers Coffee - I'm pretty much a Starbucks junkie like many people, but southern Oregon has hands-down the best coffee I've ever had in my entire life. It's called Dutch Bros. Coffee, and it has such a smooth, wonderful flavor I didn't even have to add sugar or cream. They are expanding on the West Coast, so they'd better start coming down to Texas soon!


5. The DaVinci Code Movie - It's kind of a catch-22... if you have read the book, the movie will be a disappointment. It in no way can even try to be as good as the book. On the other hand, if you just see the movie, I have no doubt that you will have zero interest in reading the book (yes, I think the movie was that boring). Please go read the book! It's a fun, fictional mystery that is worth a read.


6. Paul Allen's EMP and Sci-Fi Museum - The Experience Music Project in Seattle is a music history museum of sorts that chronicles the rise of hip-hop in NYC and music in general in the Pacific Northwest. It also has an extensive Jimi Hendrix exhibit and a very cool "sound lab" where you can learn to play drums, different guitars, keyboards, and even make your own demo. It was great to have access to instruments that you don't normally get, and to also get lessons on each of them. The Sci-Fi Museum, a smaller museum attached to the EMP, was surprisingly entertaining. They had a huge collection of sci-fi stuff, including the Alien from the Aliens movies, props from movies like Star Wars and the Matrix, and even a life-size Ninja Turtle!


All in all, the entire area was beautiful and a very fun place to visit. Todd really wants to go work for Microsoft so who knows... we might end up living there someday!